Big Pine Lake is a moderately clear water lake located in southwestern Aitkin County and is part of the Mille Lacs/Rum River watershed. There is a state-owned public access located on the south side of the lake. Big Pine Lake has a variety of habitats available to the angler from open, wind-swept gravel and rock to areas of heavy vegetation. Shorelines vary from areas with gentle slopes and shallow depths to areas with sharp drop-offs and deep water. Mid-water areas consist primarily of deep water, but there are several gravel bars with steep sides that rise to within a few feet of the surface.

Gamefish species available to anglers include Walleye, Northern Pike, Black Crappie, Bluegill and both Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass. Though there are some favorable spawning areas for Walleye, and minimal natural reproduction does occur, historically the better year classes have been those supplemented by stocking. Walleye have been stocked with varying success in Big Pine Lake since the early 1900's. Due to poor returns from stocked fry in the late 1990's and early 2000's, fingerling stocking resumed and were stocked annually from 2004-2007. Big Pine Lake then became part of a statewide research project to evaluate to effectiveness of stocking Walleye frylings, which are an intermediate size between fry and fingerlings, and were stocked in 2008 and 2010. Test nets in 2011 and 2103 suggested fryling stocking at Big Pine Lake were less successful than fingerlings. Current management has reverted to annual fingerling stocking. Overall, the Walleye gill net catch rate has been stable and has averaged about 4/net the last four surveys. Although slightly below the average in 2021 (3.4/net) and is slightly below the management goal of 5 per net, it is still about normal for this type of lake. The mean length was 16.3 inches, and fish up to 27.1 inches were sampled. Nine-year classes were present indicating good survival of stocked fish and meeting current management objectives. Additionally, a higher than usual amount of Walleye were observed in the trap nets (1.25/net) and they averaged almost 20 inches. Walleye fingerling survival will continue to be evaluated in future surveys.

CLICK HERE for the Complete Lake Finder Survey